


Tree Decorating

by icemakestars



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: And angst, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Tree, Domestic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-10
Updated: 2015-12-10
Packaged: 2018-05-06 01:23:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5397623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/icemakestars/pseuds/icemakestars
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gray is shocked when Natsu tells him that he doesn't know how to decorate a Christmas tree. As Natsu's boyfriend, he thinks that it is his duty to teach him what he has missed out on.</p><p>~part of the Gratsu Christmas event on Tumblr~</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tree Decorating

**Author's Note:**

> This is unbeta'd... yeah. I'm sorry ;.;
> 
> follow my tumblr @ice-bringer, if you so wish to!^^

“What the hell is that?” Natsu eyed the large conifer looming in Gray's front room wearily. It took up the majority of the little space Gray had, but he was stood facing it proudly nonetheless.

“It's a Christmas tree!” Gray took a long, deep intake of breath. “Doesn't it smell great? Fresh.”

Natsu turned and flopped onto Gray's settee, his hand falling over the back and legs spread onto the cushions. “It smells like soil and mould.” Natsu's nose crinkled in distaste.

Gray threw him a disapproving glance. “Are you telling me that you don't like Christmas trees?” Gray's voice was high with disbelief. Natsu looked away shamefully.

“It's not that I don't  _like_ them; they're okay. I just... don't understand them? Like, what's the actual point?” Natsu shrugged meekly, playing with the fray of Gray's cushions. Gray crossed the room, avoiding the miscellaneous boxes containing various shades of baubles and lights in different states and conditions.

“Did you never put one up as a kid?” Gray slumped onto the seat next to Natsu with wide, grey eyes.

Natsu shifted uncomfortably, only lifting his gaze from the floor when Gray rested his hands on Natsu's knee. “Me and Igneel lived in a forest, so there wasn't much point in having one then, and I don't remember anything before that. I've lived by myself or with Happy since I joined the guild, so... no. I don't understand Christmas trees, because I've never had one.” Natsu's jaw set defensively, and Gray tried to smooth it out with a kiss. Natsu smiled slightly in response, but the tenseness of his muscles did not ease.

“It's okay Natsu, we all experience different things. We could decorate the tree together, if you'd like?” Gray couldn't help but smirk with a raised brow when Natsu leaped from the chair and whooped loudly.

“Would that be okay?” He grinned.

“Of course.” Gray said smoothly, standing up and placing a soft kiss to Natsu's cheek. Natsu turned away bashfully before setting his sight on the bare tree. Although the smell still made his stomach churn, and he felt embarrassed about his lack of knowledge on the 'typical family Christmas' he had always heard so much about, but the thought of doing something as domesticated as decorating the tree with Gray made heat pool pleasantly in his chest.

“I'm all fired up!” Natsu declared, small sparks already dancing on his skin. Gray swiftly grabbed his wrist, preventing him from moving closer to the Christmas tree.

“Rule one: no open flames near the tree or decorations, okay?” Gray couldn't help the laughter toying with his lips when Natsu sighed loudly and pouted as the flames began to fade.

“ _Fine_.”

Gray moved across the room as Natsu sulked, pulling lights and tinsel from the boxes and throwing them across the floor. He had more decorations than he had thought, and wasn't sure that they would all fit on the tree.

“We'll start with the lights and the stringy decorations, and then move onto tinsel. When that stuff is on, we'll do the baubles and parcels and stuff. Does that sound good to you?” Gray scratched his head thoughtfully, glancing back at Natsu who shrugged in response.

“Sure, I guess.” Natsu picked up a sting of small silver bells from the floor, untangling them from a row of white lights. Gray did the same, separating all of the decorations into colour order as they went. Except from Gray's humming- he always liked to sing Christmas songs when he put up his tree, but was far too embarrassed to do that with Natsu there- the room was silent. It wasn't long until everything was order, the only incident being Natsu's fight with a particularly tangled set of lights that he very nearly lost.

“Right, what now?” Natsu admired their handiwork with shiny eyes and a warm smile. Gray knew that it was new for him, and the childlike endearment softening his features made Gray's heart flutter.

Gray plucked up the lights and twiddling them around his fingers. “If you feed these to me, I'll wrap them around the tree?” Gray offered, and Natsu nodded happily. They soon had the lights on the conifer, and hesitantly plugged them in. When they all came on first try, Gray yelled in glee.

“Is that... not what's supposed to happen?” Natsu inclined his head in confusion, not sure where Gray's joyous outburst had come from. In the midst of the excitement, Gray had discarded his Christmas jumper. It was an interesting number, with a snowman's body on the main knit and his neck ending where Gray's neck began. It was supposedly to make it appear as though Gray's head was on the snowman, and although Natsu had found it amusing, he would be lying if he didn't say that he liked the sight of Gray's flushed, naked chest much more.

“Natsu, it isn't often that you get a set of lights without a blown bulb in them.” Gray rested his hand on Natsu's shoulder. “This is the ultimate festive victory.” There was a moment of silence before they both spluttered out into laughter.

“Tinsel next, right?” Natsu asked slowly, watching as the lights danced on each strand of the tinsel. Gray hummed, and together they threaded the decoration around the tree.

“And now, the baubles!” Gray exclaimed, picking up a handful of red shiny spheres from the pile nearest to him. Natsu was holding a set of Santas with metallic coloured bells attached to their waists.

“This was my mother's favourite part of decorating the house. We lived in a town where it snowed most of the year, so it wasn't that special at Christmas, but the people in the town made the most beautiful hand-crafted ice decorations, infused with magic so that they did not melt.” Gray began wistfully, the sadness in his contrasting the smile which pulled at his lips. Natsu watched on silently, hooking santa's and snowmen onto the tree as he waited for Gray to continue.

“She had this one decoration that she bought the year I was born. It was a star made of ice, a really beautiful thing, and she always put it at the front of the tree. For my first Christmas, my father inscribed my name onto the front of it. Of course I don't remember it much, but that was definitely my mum's favourite.” Gray rustled around the bottom of the box until he produced a delicate six-point star. It sat in Gray's palm, not looking at all out of place in a hand which knew ice so well.

“It's beautiful.” Natsu whispered. He wanted so badly to touch it, but didn't trust his heated fingers against the temperament of the ice.

“It's a poor replica, but I just... wanted to bring something of them back. Everything was destroyed by Deliora, but my memories... they're still mine. Nothing can take them from me.” Gray clenched his fist around the star, and Natsu didn't need to hear the wobble in his face to know that he was close to tears.

From experience, Natsu knew that the Christmas season had a powerful effect on people. It could make grown men weep, or cry with joy, because everyone had memories of some kind. Whether they celebrated Christmas or not, everyone had a story to tell. Gray's, like most, was laced with bitter-sweet sadness, and it was at times like this that Natsu knew he missed his parents the most. He could understand that; he missed Igneel, as well.

“I think that's great, Gray.” Natsu smiled lopsidedly, throwing an arm around Gray and pulling him to his chest. Gray accepted the hug gratefully, wrapping his arms around Natsu's waist and neck, burying himself into Natsu's burning skin.

“I found this in the box...” Natsu trailed off uncertainly, not wanting to push Gray at such an emotional time. Gray pulled back and stared at what Natsu was clutching in his hand. It was a shrivelled piece of mistletoe, no doubt something Gray had used as a decoration the previous year. He plucked it from Natsu's fingers.

“You're such an idiot.” Gray smirked, holding the plant just above their heads.

“That's even more insulting, coming from a stupid stripper.” Natsu mumbled, placing his hands on either side of Gray's jaw and closing the small distance between their mouths. Gray was slightly taller than Natsu, but in this position Natsu was able to position their mouths in just the correct way that both of them sunk into the kiss.

It was sweet and chaste, with Gray's hands, both full with decorations, staying by his sides and above their heads as Natsu's mouth bore down on him. Their features were illuminated in the soft Christmas lights, as Gray rested their foreheads together and gave Natsu one last small kiss.

“Let's finish the tree.” He suggested, pulling out of Natsu's embrace.

“I wanna put the star on!” Natsu shouted, glancing around frantically for the golden cone with the Fairy Tail symbol on top which always sat proudly on the tip of Gray's tree. Gray laughed at Natsu's playful manner, threading the ice-star onto the tree as he went and helped Natsu search for the final decorations.


End file.
